10 things you need to know in markets, October 10

Good morning! Here’s what you need to know in markets on
Wednesday.

WeWork

1. Asian shares steadied in early Wednesday trade
after world stocks hit eight-week lows the previous day
on worries about global economic growth. Risks to the global
financial system
have risen over the past six months and could increase sharply if
pressures in emerging markets escalate or global trade relations
deteriorate further, the International Monetary Fund said on
Wednesday. The IMF, whose autumn meetings with the World
Bank get under way on the Indonesian island of Bali this week,
also noted that easy financial conditions are contributing to a
buildup of vulnerabilities such as high debt levels and
“stretched” asset valuations. 

2.SoftBank is in discussions about investing $15 billion to
$20 billion in WeWork, giving it a majority stake in
the co-working space company, according to
a Wall
Street Journal report on Tuesday. The
potential deal — a massive investment in a private company even
by the dizzying standards of Silicon Valley — would effectively
give Japan’s SoftBank control of the fast-growing office sharing
company.

3.Department store chain Sears has hired advisors to help
the company prepare for a possible
bankruptcy, The
Wall Street Journal reported on
Tuesday. The struggling retailer is bringing in M-III
Partners to put together a bankruptcy filing that could land as
early as this week, The Journal reported citing people familiar
with the plans.

4.
China will not cave in to US demands even if it faces further
tariffs on its exports, China’s
Commerce Minister Zhong Shan has said, signalling Beijing’s
uncompromising stance in dealing with US. “There is a view
in the US that so long as the US keeps increasing tariffs, China
will back down. They don’t know the history and culture of
China,” Zhong said, in a statement published by Bloomberg
News. 

5. British Prime Minister
Theresa May is planning to have an extended discussion on Brexit
at next Tuesday’s cabinet meeting in hopes of
outlining a compromise deal on the Irish border, The Times
reported on Wednesday. May’s discussion is expected to
include commitment to keep the whole of the UK in an effective
customs union with the European Union post Brexit, The Times
said. 

6. Mental health disorders are on the rise in every
country in the world and
could cost the global economy up to $16 trillion between 2010 and
2030 if a collective failure to respond is not
addressed, according to an expert report on Tuesday. The
“Lancet Commission” report by 28 global specialists in
psychiatry, public health and neuroscience, as well as mental
health patients and advocacy groups, said the growing crisis
could cause lasting harm to people, communities and economies
worldwide.

7. Goldman Sachs’ venture unit is leading a new round of
investment in an
Argentinian fintech company backed by billionaire investors
George Soros and Steven
Cohen. Ualá, the one-year-old
mobile banking startup, raised $34 million in its series B round
led by Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, along with existing
investors including a private fund managed by Soros Fund
Management, Jefferies, the venture
arm of Steve Cohen’s Point 72, and entrepreneur Kevin Ryan,
according to an announcement seen by Business Insider.

8.Audi interim CEO, Bram Schot, would be available as
Audi’s chief executive in the longer
run, he said in an interview with
German business monthly manager magazin published on
Wednesday. “I am concentrating on now and am trying to be a
better CEO today than I was yesterday, just like any company
leader. I would be available as Audi chief in the long run and
would like that very much,” the magazine quoted him as saying.

9. A group of companies led byKKR & Co will invest in an existing real estate
project under construction in the Gangnam district of Seoul,
South Korea, hoping to cash in on one of the world’s
fastest-rising commercial property markets. The U.S.
private equity firm will invest along with South Korea’s National
Pension Service and IGIS Asset Management, the country’s biggest
real estate fund manager, KKR said in a statement.

10. A California man who was accused by Special Counsel
Robert Mueller’s office of
operating an online auction service that trafficked in stolen
identities will be sentenced on Wednesday in a
federal district court. Richard Pinedo, who pleaded guilty
to one count of identity fraud in February, could face between 12
to 18 months in prison and a fine of $5,500 to $55,000, according
to U.S. sentencing guidelines.